Method and apparatus for forming decorative fabrics



G. L. MILLS July 29, 1958 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING DECORATIVE FABRICS Filed Jan. 2.7, 1955 I Fig v v lrmimklwl If a A A I a I m l 3 0/ 7 1 ze, Z 7/0 W/w z 7 WM 55 fi a iii INVENTOR. GEORGE L. MILLS ATTO/Z/Vf/f Ara Z? fabrics.

United States Patent METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING DECORATIVE FABRICS George L. Mills, Auburn, Maine, assignor to Bates Manufacturing Company, a corporation of Maine Application January 27, 1955 Serial No. 484,397

2 Claims. (Cl. 13947) This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming decorative fabrics. More particularly, it relates ;to methods and apparatus whereby variousdecorative effects are achieved by the introduction of the threads warpwise into the fabric and the severing thereof while the fabric is on the loom.

Decorative fabrics having severed-thread surface effects such as candlewick and chenille, for example, are conventionally formed by severing selected threads, which are often special threads diifering in weight or appearance from the threads of the ground fabric and incorporated .in the weave at selected points to form severable floats.

Various techniques have been evolved to make such In one technique, the decorating threads are introduced warpwise into the fabric to be severed subsequently in a separate operation, sometimes involving manual steps. In another technique simplified severing on the loom has been achieved by introducing the decorating threads weftwise, that is, by means of the shuttle, and interposing stationary cutters in their path of movement through the loom.

The weftwise technique is costly due to the complexity of the shuttle means required to introduce both ground and decorating threads. The warpwise technique is costly due either to the elaborate mechanism or the time required to carry out the severing. Moreover, .such conventional techniques often require relatively heavy picks in relatively large numbers per square inch in the ground fabric which carries the tufts.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide improved, simplified apparatus for forming decorative fabrics such, for example, as candlewicks, chenilles and the like, at a considerable saving in cost both for materials and labor.

In accordance with the present invention, a fabric can be formed by introducing decorating threads warpwise into the ground weave as the latter is woven. With each decorating warp end or group thereof there is provided a complementary guide which can take the form of a warp wire, preferably carried at the upper side of the shed and leading rearwardly to a suitable support such as the breast beam. The decorative threads have imparted thereto as by conventional leno doups and heddles a leno motion by means of which they are carried back and forth over the corresponding guides and interlaced in the ground fabric between cross-over points. In this fashion the guides and decorating threads are coupled as if they were two threads being twisted together in a conventional leno weave. Cutting means in the form of a .knife near the end form the ground of the fabric.

of the guide are provided to intercept and sever the decorating threadswhich pass over the guides as the fabric passes to the take-up roll. By controlling the cross-over points, i. e., the leno action between the guides and decorating threads, various severed thread surface effects can be achieved. This control can be established by any one of several well-known leno techniques and can be used in conjunction with dobby heads, multiple shuttle looms and Jacquard motions.

If it is desired to insure that the leno or decorating thread is severed at specific points, say midway between points of interlacings in the ground fabric, the shedding means of the loom can be actuated to interlace the decorating thread temporarily in the weave at closely spaced points on opposite sides of the wire guide so that the thread is caused to engage the cutting means at right angles thereto. After severing the temporary points of attachment in the weave, which are very close to the severed ends, pull free and the tufts are formed.

The above as well as other features and advantages of the present form may be better understood by reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with theaocompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view, schematic in nature, of a portion of a loom apparatus formed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view, schematic in nature, showing part of. the loom apparatus of Figure 1 ina second operating position;

Figure 3 is afragmentary view of the loom apparatus of Figure 2 showing the parts in a third position;

Figure 4 is a plan view of a portion of the cutting means of the loom apparatus and showing the interlacing of decorating threads in the ground of the fabric prior to severing; and

Figure 5 is a full surface view of a piece of fabric having warpwise tufts formed therein.

Referring to the drawings and to Figures 1 and in particular, there isshown a portion of a loom apparatus in the process of weaving a fabric F comprised of warp ends 10 interlaced with the filling threads 11 to Incorporated in the ground in a manner and by means presently to be described is a warpwise decoratingor tufting thread 12. The decorating thread 12 will in most cases differ from the ground threads, either in material and dimension or both. Decorating threads can be introduced into the weave in whatever numbers are required to achieve the desired ultimate surface effect.

For each thread or group of threads to be introduced across the width of the fabric there is provided a guide 13 which can take the form of a wire running more or less in a plane of the fabric F and parallel to the warp ends 10. The guide 13 can be fixed to the frame of theloom on opposite sides of the shedding area 14 by attachment to the breast-beam 15 at one end and to a stationary support 16 .at its other end.

The decorating thread 12 can be controlled in its disposition in the weave of the fabric by means of a leno attachment 17 whichcan be comprised of two leno heddles 18a and 18b operating a leno doup 19 and themselves operated by shedding harnesses 21a and.21b respectively. ,Each leno doup is formedwith .an eye 22. through, which one or more decorating threads threads enter the weave as warp ends but instead of being controlled by conventional heddles they are controlled by a leno doup.

Operating in conjunction with the guide 13, the doup is actuated by conventional shedding means to carry the decorating thread back and forth over the guide wire at spaced points, the thread being interlaced in the ground fabric at spaced points alternating with the cross-over points.

The action of the doup in carrying out this function is illustrated by Figures 1, 2 and 3. In Figure 2 the heddles 18a and 18b have been relatively actuated so that the doup eye 22 is carried to the right of the guide 13 and at the same time to the bottom of the shed. In this posi tion the filling threads which are introduced by the shuttle means pass over the decorating thread and under the guide 13. At a predetermined time, say after three filling threads have been entered, the conventional heddles meantime being operated to carry out the weaving of the ground fabric, the doup heddles 18a and 18b are actuated to lift the decorating thread to the top of the shed as best seen in Figure 1. In that position the filling threads pass beneath the decorating thread, which then becomes a float on the surface of the ground fabric. A considerable number of filling threads can be entered during the interval that the doup 19 is holding the decorating thread at the top of the shed.

After the decorating thread has been carried as a float on the surface of the ground fabric for the desired length, the doup 19 is then actuated by the heddles 18a and 18b to the position shown in Figure 3. In that position the decorating thread 12 has been carried to the bottom of the shed on the left hand side of the guide 13, in which position the filling threads pass between it and the guide, as in the case of the arrangement of Figmre 2. By this series of controlled motions, the decorating thread 12 is caused to pass over the guide 13, joining the guide to the body of the fabric.

As the fabric moves through the loom toward the takeup roll 23, the guide 13 is released from the fabric by means of a cutting device 24 which can be mounted on the breast beam of the loom.

The cutting device can comprise an arm 25 projecting inwardly from the breast beam 15 and having the guide 13 atfixed to its free end. The upper surface of the arm 25 can be formed with a slot 26 in which a cutting wheel 27 is received, the wheel 27 preferably being freely rotatable at the end of a support 28 which can also be secured to the breast beam 15.

As the fabric moves through the loom the portion of the decorating thread 12 which is looped over the guide will be carried onto the arm 25 to be intercepted by the cutting wheel 27, thereby severing the decorating thread and freeing the guide 13 from the fabric so that the latter can pass to the take-up roll 23.

By severing the decorating thread at spaced points between its points of interlacing with the ground fabric, a series of tufts result. These tufts will appear in lines and in sizes and numbers which are controlled by the number of leno doups used and by their mode of actuation by the leno harness under the control of the shedding means which, in accordance with well-known weaving practices, can be made to actuate the harnesses in any desired timing relative to the shuttle and shedding means which interlace the ground threads.

In certain cases, particularly those in which the points of interlacing of the decorating thread in the ground fabric are widely spaced in the direction of movement of the fabric through the loom, it is possible that the point at which the decorating thread is severed will not be equally spaced from the two points interlacing in the ground fabric. The result is a longer severed end for one tuft and a shorter severed end for the next adjacent tuft. This condition can be avoided in accordance with the invention by causing the decorating thread subsequent handling.

4 12 to be introduced into the weave at temporary points of attachment which are very close to the cross-over point so that the decorating thread is carried onto the cutting device at more or less right angles thereto.

Referring to Figure 4, for example, the leno doup can be actuated first to interlace the filling threads 28, 29 and 30 with the decorating thread 12 in a point of permanent attachment and subsequently, say half way to the next point of permanent attachment, it can be actuated to establish temporary points or zones of attachment 33 by carrying the decorating thread under the filling thread 31, over the guide 13 and under the next adjacent filling thread 32, the decorating thread being thereafter carried above the ground fabric as a float in the same manner as described above. So held by the filling threads 31 and 32, only a short length of the decorating thread 12, relative to the overall length between points of permanent interlacing in the weave, will pass over the guide 13. Consequently, there is little opportunity for lengthwise movement which would change the relative lengths of the floats between the points of permanent interlacing in the ground fabric and substantially uniform tufts result. The points of temporary attachment become readily detached from the ground of the fabric in the course of The conventional tuft-fluffing operation, for example, which is performed subsequent to weaving, causes detachment of the temporary points.

It will be understood that an almost infinite variety of severed end effects can be achieved in accordance with the present invention. Tufts can be formed, for example, which are large or small; short or long; closely or widely spaced in the weave; or the same or different sizes. It will be understood further that the specific design of the cutting means 24 need not take the form illustrated but can, for example, take the form of a stationary blade afiixed to the guide 13 or of a driven clipping device in which the shearing elements are motivated. The invention should not be regarded as limited, therefore, except as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a method of forming cut pile fabrics by leno action crossing of warp yarns over pile-forming wires which extend warpwise, the steps of interlacing warp and filling threads to form a ground fabric, interlacing warpwise a decorating thread into the ground fabric at relatively widely spaced apart points, interlacing the decorating thread in the ground fabric at two closely spaced points intermediate each pair of consecutive widely spaced points, the thread intermediate said two closely spaced points overlying the pile-forming wire, holding and guiding by means of the pile-forming wire the decorating thread offset from the plane of the fabric between the closely spaced points of interlacing as the fabric ad vances during weaving, interposing means in the path of travel of the portion of the decorating thread which is offset from the plane of the fabric intermediate the two closely spaced interlacing points to cause the thread to be severed between the two closely spaced points and subsequently causing the severed threads to be disengaged from their respective closely adjacent points of interlacing, thereby to form tufts secured to the fabric at said relatively widely spaced points.

2. In a method of forming cut pile fabrics by leno action crossing of warp yarns over pile-forming wires which extend warpwise, the steps of interlacing warp and filling threads to form a ground fabric, interlacing warpwise a decorating thread into the ground fabric at relatively widely spaced apart points which are also offset from each other weftwise, interlacing the decorating thread in the ground fabric at two closely spaced points intermediate each pair of consecutive widely spaced points, said two closely spaced points being offset from each other weftwise, the thread intermediate said two closely spaced points overlying the pile-forming wire, holding and guiding by means of the pile-forming wire the decorating thread offset from the plane of the fabric between the closely spaced points of interlacing as the fabric advances during weaving, interposing means in the path of travel of the portion of the decorating thread which is offset from the plane of the fabric to cause the thread to be severed between the two closely spaced points and subsequently causing the severed threads to be disengaged from their respective closely adjacent points of interlacing, thereby to form tufts secured to the fabric at said relatively Widely spaced points.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hope Oct. 28, Hall June 2, Hall Oct 13, Greenwood May 17, Mills Mar. 30, 

